Out of Sight
by 08marsh
Summary: Events after the season 5 finale!


'Out of Sight'

Well, I took a long break from Lost after I couldn't stand the fact that the writer's had appeared to have killed off the best character (and actress) and kept some fairly useless and annoying screen time stealing characters instead, you can probably guess who I'm talking about. Anyway, I was cheered up reading some threads on the fuselage forums and was surprised to see just how many different scenarios there could be where she could actually survive. There is hope yet, woo hoo. So, I re-watched some season 5 after my break and I got the urge to write this fic. It won't always be in Sawyer's perspective as we'll gradually find out what happened to everybody else. Enjoy!

CHAPTER ONE

'SOMETHING IS HAPPENING TO ME'

His tight hold on the metal scaffolding slipped as he was dragged back by forceful arms pulling him away from the spot were he just witnessed her blonde hair finally whip out of sight. He lost her. How could this have happened. Turning, he saw it was Kate and Jack pulling him away….

"Jack! Jack, help me get him…"

… A sudden pain seared through his chest as though they had just ripped his heart out. He fell back unable to control the fact that all the awareness of what was going on around him evaporated and he collapsed into their arms, unable to suppress his grief.

The culmination of the metal at the top of the hatch finally gave way and ripped through the opening. Being pulled at top speed, the electromagnetism pulled anything and everything metal, nothing getting in the way of what it wanted. That is until the light came.

Out of nowhere, the jungle blurred into nothingness and his eyes were filled with a blinding white energy. His head throbbed and throbbed, causing his arms to outstretch and reach for something… anything.

His hand finally gripped onto something forcefully and he held it tight. Just as quickly as it came, the bright light vanished and everything was still. Sawyer opened his eyes slightly, his vision blurry and hardly making out any of the shapes in front of him.

As his focus slowly returned, he saw nothing but blue and red stripes before him. He blinked several times trying to wake properly and noticed he was staring at the fabric of a seat in front of him. His eyes widened as he realised where he was. Back on board Oceanic 815. _It can't be_, he thought. Yet… somehow, it had happened. He jolted back into his seat and took in his surroundings frantically. People everywhere; acting normal as though nothing had happened, people reading books and magazines, children laughing and playing, people sleeping, a woman in handcuffs… Sawyer did a double take and stared. On the opposite side of the plane, Kate's head lulled to the side as she slept. The Marshall seated next to her. _What the hell is happening. Does she remember anything? Did any of it actually happen?_

From his right, suddenly… "You ok, man!". The passenger seated beside him gave him a look of mixed concern and annoyance as Sawyer's fidgeting had woken him. Sawyer just stared at him, still in shock and jumped out of his seat rushing down the aisle. He grabbed his hair and realised he was dripping with sweat and his head started spinning and he got the urge to throw up. People stared as he staggered his way to the bathroom, he tugged on the door hard but it didn't open.

"Just a minute!" An angry voice bellowed from inside.

Sawyer couldn't take this any longer. He slammed his fist into the door in frustration.

"I said I'll be just a minute!" repeated the voice.

Sawyer fell against the wall and slid down as images of Juliet flashed though his mind. Her blonde hair, every feature and marking on her face, her wry little smirk that she always gave him. But she was gone. She had left him alone. Her hand had slipped from his and he'd never see her again. Never again kiss her or hold her close. A tug on his arm pulled him back to his feet and an Australian accent pierced his ears.

"Excuse me, sir, are you ok?"

Sawyer didn't answer, he just stared out absent-mindedly. He saw vaguely the short-haired, brunette air hostess hold him in a standing position, he felt recognition flow through him but he didn't have the energy to try and remember. Behind her, two men were banging ferociously on the bathroom door until it finally slid open and Charlie stepped into the aisle. He staggered as a large bout of turbulence suddenly hit them, his eyes were red as though he hadn't slept for days.

The air hostess now turned to Charlie, "Sir, I've already told you once. Under health and safety regulations you must return to your seat immediately." Before he had a chance to reply the two men practically dragged him back to his seat. Sawyer managed to get himself to stand up properly again as Cindy turned back to him. "You're gonna have to go back to your seat. We'll be coming in for landing before too long."

"Sir, are you sure you're alright?". Sawyer had already started to walk away, he rushed back between the aisles after he thought he had spotted someone. He glared around before catching sight of Rose and Bernard sat talking and eating sandwiches seemingly unaware of everything that had happened. His eyes scanned and fell on the person he was looking for, Jack.

Jack was already staring at Sawyer apprehensively, as he rounded on him. He grabbed him in his seat, forcefully but discreetly enough.

"Do you remember?"

Jack looks emotionally defeated as though he had given up.

He manages a "Yeah".

"Happy with what you done, doc! Mission accomplished, huh?" he hissed into his ear.

"Sawyer, I …" Jack started but Sawyer practically shook him to shut up.

"You son of a bitch. We still remember, I don't recall you tellin' us that"

"How was I to know?…"

"Have you any idea what you done. Coming back and ruining everything we had. She's dead because of you."

"She might not…" Jack started.

A hand pulled on Sawyer's shoulder "Sir, do I have to…"

"Okay!" he shouted. "I'm going, lady!"

He shot Jack a look that told him they hadn't finished. Forcing himself back into his seat he threw his head back and closed his eyes. He was fuming, Jack came back after three years and thought he could take control. Three god damn years after they'd been left on the island and they all just decided to come back as if nothing had happened and pour shit all over his new life. A life he'd created. They'd created. Him and Juliet. Because it was what he had always wanted. A stable life and not just some petty existence.

His fist tightened as he thought of everything he had lost and the pain in his chest was unbearable as Juliet's cries of pain echoed in his head. He leaned forward into his hands and tried to force the pain to subdue. But it was no use. He needed to find her, he needed to know if she was ok. If he had seen Charlie after all this time then maybe Juliet was fine. Maybe she was somewhere out there looking for him. _"Or maybe she isn't. Maybe she doesn't even remember you" _a nagging doubt told him. His thoughts were brought elsewhere when something rolled up beside him. He turned slightly to notice the trolley.

"Can I get you anything?" he was asked.

"No." he seethed harshly.

"Are you sure about that"

"For god sake I… ". Before he could finish a plastic cup was set down on the small pull down tray in front of him and it was being topped up with an alcoholic beverage. He couldn't tell what it was.

"Thought you could do with a drink" the voice soothed and leaned in towards him. "Come on"

As he turned to the woman, hair rolled off her shoulder and hung down… blonde hair. His throat closed up as he fixed into those so very familiar blue eyes. Long blonde hair swinging around her face as she leaned over him. He couldn't believe what he was seeing and his head started swimming.

"Are you ok?"

He couldn't bring himself to say her name.

Giving him a confused look "I'm sorry, are you ok?"

His vision blurred yet again and he felt as though he was going to pass out. He was blinded by a sudden white light which engulfed his vision.

_FLASH_

He slammed his head back again. He wasn't on the plane. He felt his head sink into a soft pillow. He was lying down inside what had become his home over the course of the last three years. Flipping his head around and he saw her, she was actually there. Within reach. She had her back to him as she slept. Her long, shiny golden hair resting against her bare back. He reached out as though trying to prove her existence and she let out a weary moan as she roused.

"Juliet." She turned her body around to face him, keeping the bedclothes wrapped around herself and moved in to kiss him. He closed his eyes and relished the feel of her lips again and took in every second of this moment. He opened his eyes and looked deep into hers.

"I love you" he said. Slowly that smirk of hers he came to appreciate and adore spread across her face. "I…" she began.

_FLASH_

She was gone. Taken away yet again, he was lying in the bed alone. He jumped up and looked around tentatively. "Juliet!". Her in print was visible on the bed, she had been here. His eyes darted towards the door, attracted to the flickering light he could see through the crack at the bottom. He pulled the door open and glanced into the hallway, the light on the ceiling was swinging rapidly causing shadows to bounce all over the place accentuating the crevices in the walls. "Juliet!" he shouted again before noticing her figure stood at the end of the hall staring at something in the living room.

He made towards her quickly. "Juliet, what the hell is happening!". He reached halfway before his foot smashed into something and he fell forwards smacking his head into the floor. He groaned "Son of a bitch!". Juliet's attention was bought from the commotion and she turned to him. The light still flickered frantically as though being hit with an invisible force. She just stared down at Sawyer as he heaved himself up, but he couldn't, he found himself immobile. Tears streamed down her face. Now, Sawyer had really had enough "Juliet! What the hell's going on!"

Her lips trembled as she tried to speak through her sobs "You….you….you". She stopped. Her eyes wild before blood slowly trickled from her mouth and ran down her chin. She coughed and spluttered as the blood came thicker and ran faster, her hand instinctively grabbed at her abdomen. Her shirt was torn and a large gash had ripped through her stomach. She fell to her knees and screamed out in pain "James!". The sound of his name tore through his brain like needles. He keeled over and lay there as his body was racked with pain and a whistling, whirling noise surrounded him. Everything went black.

After a few minutes of lying there in complete and utter silence with his face buried in the ground, Sawyer went over it all in his head which throbbed from all of the inconsistencies. He went through absolute hell with all that had happened and now it appeared he was waking up all over the place, _literally_. He was on the plane, Jack's stupid plan had worked and they were back on the plane. Everyone who had died had apparently been spared. Then just as quickly he was in the one place he wanted to be, with Juliet. Now, after being forced to practically relive the agony of seeing Juliet go through torture he didn't care where he was now. He just wanted to crawl into a hole and die.

A sudden whooshing noise roused his senses to his current environment. It felt as though something had just brushed past him at top speed. It was only at that moment that he realised his face was no longer buried deep into the hall floor but into… grass. _Fuck_, he thought to himself. This was all he needed. He heard the noise of birds flapping in the trees around him. He stretched out his arms which dug into the grassy soil beneath him, and rolled his whole body over onto his back and breathed heavily. Now he noticed he was wearing his Dharma jumpsuit once again and the pain of his face injuries crept back over him. He lifted himself up as he heard movement coming from behind the trees.

"Bloody hell!" he heard that familiar Scottish accent bellow.

Sawyer pulled himself to his feet and staggered deeper into the jungle, ripping away at branches angrily before coming to a clearing. He didn't know why but his instincts told him to hide. He crouched behind a large tree and was surprised to find Desmond, or more precisely, a _naked_ Desmond enter the clearing.

"Are you alone, brother!". Sawyer didn't know what to do. Had Desmond seen him, did he know he was there. Or more importantly why the hell was he not wearing any clothes. Giving up and realising that he had no other options and he wasn't about to find help anywhere else he got ready to walk out from his hiding place and approach Desmond until he heard another voice speak up.

"Woah, dude, I'm not alone!"

Sawyer peeked through the bush and saw Hurley approach Desmond wearing a green shirt and a backpack and covering his eyesight from Desmond's bare body. It was this attire which told Sawyer that this Hurley he was watching was not the same Hurley who had gone through all what he had just been through 1977.

"Beach camp's right over there. Can you get me some clothes?" Desmond said desperately.

"What happened to yours?" Hurley quizzed.

"I woke up in the jungle like this"

"So… like, the hatch…. blew off your underwear"

Sawyer would have laughed at the absurdity of this situation but he focused more on the previous comment. _Beach camp's right over there._

Sawyer let himself slowly fall to his knees as he frustratingly thought about the fact that everyone; Jack, Kate, Clare, Jin, Sun and all the other survivors were probably just on the other side of those trees. However, it didn't take him long to realise that there was no way he could go there. He was in a Dharma jumpsuit and it was all the more likely that his own counterpart also resided in that beach camp. So, he decided it was for the best if he went into the opposite direction. As he moved away he could just make out Hurley's voice for the last time.

"How do you feel about tie-dye"

He continued his trek with nothing more than hope that he would come across everyone else from the swan site who had maybe time travelled with him. The pain he was feeling in his chest hoping that it would be Juliet, that he'd be able to see her, alive and well.

******************** END ********************

AUTHOR: I know it seems confusing with all his jumping all over the place but it will make sense (hopefully) as we get further into the story. This was more like the set up. Anyway, hope you enjoyed it and reviews, especially constructive criticism, is greatly appreciated. Thanks.


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